She was never this mad at anybody in the family, but this time, she went nuts.

“Do you know what could’ve happened to you? You could have gotten injured! You could have- You would have – !” Mother lost her mind.

“It is okay, mamma; Jeet is still a little child!” Mahan spoke up in defense of Jeet.

“And you, Mahan!” Mother’s voice became deep.

“You are in deep, deep trouble!”

“But ma-”

“You couldn’t have stopped him? You couldn’t have taken him to his teacher, who obviously wasn’t supervising him? You couldn’t have told him of the troubles and the risks he was taking? You couldn’t have done any of that? You are an elder brother, set an example!” Mother shouted.

“Mother, I persuaded Brother Mahan. I was ignorant. I was the one who is at fault. Please do not shout at him. Shout at me!” Jeet spoke up.

“You BOTH are in big trouble! You and Mahan are grounded for a week! And that P.E. teacher of yours! I will have a word with her! Off to your room!” Mother thundered.

Jeet trudged on to his room, on the verge of tears.

***

Jeet shared his room with Mahan. They were both in bed. Mahan tried to cheer him up by giving him some exciting news. The conversation was as follows.

“You like football right, Jeet?”

“Yes”

“And you support Lymington Football Club, right?”

“Yes!”

“Well, guess what?”

“What?”

“They are playing against Newcastle United right now, five minutes into the game. Let’s watch.”

“Yes! Yes!”

“But Jeet”

“What now?”

“Lymington Town is a horrible team”

“Hey! Keep it shut! They came all the way from the Wessex Premier League to League Two, League One, FL Championship, and now, Barclays Premier League in just ten years!”

“Where did you learn that from? Anyways, I meant to say don’t be demeaned if they lose”

“Yes, okay. But they won’t!”

“As you say”

“This bores me” Mahan said.

Jeet didn’t find it very boring, however. The first ten to fifteen minutes consisted of Lymington just dominating possession. They were passing the ball around in their own half. Jeet thought that if Lymington go into the other half of the field, they’d lose the ball. Jeet thought it was smart.

“Why can’t every team just do this?” Jeet inquired.

“Because they can get easily intercepted or tackled and if they keep doing this without a lead, then they won’t get a victory. It is a very risky thing to do.”

Lymington failed to pass to a team-mate and Newcastle United had the ball. Jeet got distracted; he wasn’t focusing on the match. Newcastle sailed past Lymington’s defense. Papiss Demba Cisse, the Newcastle United Striker easily beat the rather shoddy defenders. It took one strike of the ball to put Newcastle into the lead. The twenty-first minute, and the score line was 1 – 0, with Newcastle United leading. Jeet’s attention focused back onto the game, and he perked up.

“Goal!” Jeet punched his fist into the air.

“Um, Jeet? Newcastle scored, not Lymington. Your team is losing.”

“Oh. Okay” Jeet kept quiet then on.

Half time drew nearer and nearer. It was down to the forty-fourth minute when Lymington were gifted ball possession. Their main striker dominated the Newcastle defender. When the goal-keeper rushed up to collect the ball, the second striker ran to the striker that had ball possession. The first striker passed it to the second striker, and the second striker walked the ball into the back of the net, the goalkeeper being a long way away from home, that is, the goal. Lymington Town equalized, and the score was one all. This time, Jeet bounced happily.

“YES!” He was bouncing on his bed full of joy.

“Stop shouting Jeet!” Mother bolted from outside the room. Jeet stopped cheering. The first half of the match ended, and Jeet’s father entered the room.

“Watching football, children?” Father asked.

“Yes papa” Mahan said.

“You know, a lot has changed in football in the ten years of your life, Mahan. Of course, football keeps changing, that is how it is. But there were iconic changes. Ten years ago, Jose Mourinho left Chelsea to expand his opportunities and challenges as a manager. Louis van Gaal resigned from his post as a Manchester United manager in twenty-eighteen. Wayne Rooney retired from his football career in twenty twenty-two. Steven Gerrard retired two years before Rooney, twenty-twenty. Many great managers and coaches have retired. But there are newer changes and better footballers. When I got the news that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are retiring at the end of this season, it entrapped me with a wave of sadness. We are losing two precious gems in the world of football, and it is something to be sad about.”

Jeet knew no one from the list of retirements that father was rambling on about. Mahan seemed to know a few people.

“It is okay, father! I will become such a good footballer, the world will know me and I will be better than that – that, Ronald fellow or the- the messy guy!”

Mahan and father shared a laugh.

“I’m sure you will, Jeet.”

Half Time ended, and the game kicked off. Father had to report back to work. Mahan and Jeet were watching the match. Newcastle United was being threatened by Lymington Town, as their main striker got into the box to shoot. Before he shot the ball, he got tackled by forty one year old Jonas Gutierrez, was going to retire last season, but he signed a new contract for one more year. The tackle wasn’t a clean one and the referee gave the penalty.

Lymington’s number ten got ready, and he shot a very, very disappointing one. It flew miles over the cross-bar.

Lymington had another shot at goal in the sixty seventh minute, which was a goal, but it was disallowed due to the player being caught offside. Jeet groaned, and he cursed the offside rule, after asking Mahan what it really meant.

The seventy ninth minute drew nearer, and Newcastle United had a great chance. The striker through-balled the ball into the box, and as the goalkeeper of Lymington Town came up to collect the ball, Thirty nine year old Papiss Cisse slid the ball into the goal. Newcastle United was leading 2-1.

Then came the ninetieth minute, and Newcastle United had a last minute corner. They called the goalie from the other half of the field, just in case. The ball flew into the box, and right into the back of the net. The goal was scored by Newcastle United’s goalie. It was indeed a good idea to call the goalie to take a shot. Newcastle led 3-1 as the referee blew the whistle for the last time. It was full time, and the Newcastle United Football Club won. Jeet was a bit demeaned, but he didn’t really care in the end, because he loved football.

*** ***

The evening drew nearer, and Mahan got shocking news. What happened was that the same person who Jeet threw his shoe at and started kicking repeatedly had been severely injured and he ended up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder. Jeet was shocked beyond measure to hear this, and requested Mahan to e-mail father to take them to the hospital so that he could apologize to meet the boy and apologize. Father immediately came home to take Jeet and Mahan to the hospital, much to the disapproval of Jeet’s mother.

Jeet chose to stay in the waiting room, because he didn’t want to see the boy. It would be too much for him to take. He heard the conversation from outside.

“Hi Mahan”

“Hi. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m on pain killers. You shouldn’t have brought him to the match, he took things too seriously.”

“I’m pretty sure you allowed him to play, you were more willing than anybody”

The two started laughing.

“Anyway, I told mom that I got injured on the field, I didn’t blame it on Jeet, because you are a good friend, Mahan – I don’t want you to get into legal trouble.”

“Get well soon, buddy”

Mahan left the hospital with Jeet. All this time Jeet thought that Mahan was enemies with the other boy, but it turned out that they were friends. Jeet would never want anyone to remind him of that day.

*** Four Years Later. ***

Jeet turned ten a week ago, but his birthday in Dubai didn’t go very well. Fourteen year old Mahan gave him news that the boy in hospital four years ago died in a car crash on Jeet’s birthday, which was also the boy’s birthday. Mahan told Jeet a week after his birthday so that his birthday won’t be ruined. The two shared a devastating following week, and Jeet would never forgive himself after that day.

The Escape ________________________________________________________________________

I woke up to a thunderously loud noise outside.

“Wake him up! We have no time to fool around. I shall leave, master wishes to see me.”

I shut my eyes, as the cut-scene started to play. The man walked to me, and when he got close enough, I headbutted him and took his knife to cut the rope that was hanging me upside down. I fell flat on the floor, and got going. I had nothing with me but a knife, as I slowly walked through the dense, quiet and terrifying corridor. I heard nothing but the dripping of water from above me. Where was I? Where is this hideout located? Looks like somewhere really discreet. Maybe some place underground. The corridor came to an end and it split into two routes. Out of one of them I heard voices. I was shaking with fear, because I hadn’t done these missions before. Suddenly, someone whispered behind me.

“Thinking of sneaking out, eh?” He said, before he stabbed me in the back and I died.

***

I re-spawned in the shallow room. Wow, I was still alive! It was a video game, after all. I chose a different route this time, in hopes that it wouldn’t result in me dying again. It did. I got killed by this macho-man dual wielding a machete. I don’t even know what kind of security this place has.

“High level security, the best in our detective agency” A man spoke behind me, as if to read my mind. Turns out he was answering someone else’s question. I immediately took cover behind a rock.

“Then how to you explain this?” He was pointing at the chains and the rope that I cut.

“Search for him! He could be anywhere by now! Call reinforcements! He couldn’t have escaped yet.” Oh, boy. The moment they left the room, a siren sounded, and I got going. I was done for. I ran into the dark corridor, everyone obviously noticing me. It was a stupid move. I was supposed to sneak past everyone and get out, I knew that. But I thought that I should just run. So I ran. And got shot a few times. I died. I re-spawned, did the mission again, died again several times, re-spawned. It got irritating. I chose the way of stealth. I did what I did the first time. The one where I got stabbed in the back. But this time, when he said Thinking of sneaking out, eh? I immediately spun around and stabbed him in his neck. It was the only part of his body not covered in armor. I knew that after dying a few times. I immediately took cover in a dark cell that was empty. A few guards drifted by, talking about taking a vacation. I leaped out after they were far away, and then went into the cave that led right. I subsequently died by the wrath of about eight German shepherd dogs. I went into the left cave. I died by the might of two men, one holding a chainsaw, the other, an ax.

*** ***

I decided to take on the dogs. One jumped at me, I ducked, and stabbed the second, and threw it at the first. The third sprang out, and I kicked it, and stabbed the fourths neck. The fifth one, well, it just stood there. I chopped its leg off, and proceeded to the sixth and seventh. The sixth one was scary. It was big, very big. Suddenly it jumped at me, and pinned me to the ground. I stabbed its abdomen, and chopped his head off. The seventh one almost bit my leg, but luckily my reflexes helped me out and I stepped on the dog, and it groaned. The eighth one just ran away. I proceeded. There were cells labelled Cell 912, Cell 913, Cell 914. I kept walking. The corridor was lit up by a few torches. Then the cave joined and continued to the same route. There he was, the chainsaw man and the ax-murderer. I was supposed to fight them, too? Apparently not. The moment he started towards me, the cave shook. The ceiling gave way, and a large wave of water lashed into the room, so strong that it swept me off the ground and pushed me towards nothing in sight. My first instinct was to swim to the top. I swam upwards, running out of breath. Finally, the time came where I reached the top of the water. I woke up into a dark, gloomy area, with a door and an exit sign. Hanging in front of the door, was a gun. I slung it on for safety sake. As I stepped out of the room, a cut-scene was awaiting me.

“Oh, you thought you’d get an easy send-off, did you, friend?” I spun around and saw about ten guards circling me, in an island. I was standing on the beach. The island had a volcano, looking dormant, hopefully. The trees were tall and all fresh with coconuts. The scent of the flowers came from far away, but I wasn’t focusing on the flowers, I was focusing on how to get out of this mess.

I heard a loud rumbling sound shaking the island. Birds screeched and started flying all over the place. Animal noises coming from the forest startled the guards. I turned my attention to the volcano. Smoke puffed out of the mountain. Suddenly, it started launching out rock debris that came crashing onto the beach. The men shambled towards the speed boats. I turned my attention to a helicopter that was about to take off. I ran to the helicopter that was already escalating upwards. I was racing one of the guards, and ducked when he tried to stab me. I jumped as high as I could, and grabbed onto one of the landing skids. A man poked his head out of the helicopter, and reached his arm out to help me in.

“Jordan!” I screamed. He was alive! He started laughing. I grabbed his hand. He pulled me towards him, and as I climbed on to the helicopter, he said, “Hah, sorry old buddy. I work for them, now.”, and then pushed me off the helicopter. I was plummeting into the ocean , another helicopter between me and the surface. I was falling right into the rotor blades of a helicopter. It was death for sure. Was this part of the story? Would I re-spawn? I should, right? I was falling nearer and near to my death.

Nope, not a mystery, not a puzzle – wait, technically a puzzle-The Rubik’s Cube! I finally solved it.
I was lying down on the bed one day, when I looked to my right. There, lay one of the biggest mysteries in the world – an unsolved Rubik’s Cube.
I took it up as a challenge immediately to solve it (because my Winter was already so boring).

And what is the first thing anyone does to solve a cube?

Go to the Internet! There, I found out that there were so many ways to solve it- and the site that I went to, said that I got the easiest instructions! What lies! They said it would take about 45 minutes. More lies! It took me days.
Even the internet made it a challenge.
Today, I stayed up till midnight, and when midnight struck, I made the last necessary move – and boom. I just solved a cube. I felt, many feelings. Well, one of them was that I felt late to the party because all my friends already knew the algorithms and sequences. But ninety percent happiness. Accomplishment.

But… But what now? Now, it just lies in my room, on my bedside table, reminding me of the hours of frustration it made me go through.

It is about time I tell you readers that I support Manchester United FC, and we have had an almost immortal December record in the past 8 matches. It all began against Crystal Palace when we triumphed 1-0 with Mata’s strike. From then on, we began our fine run of results.
I have to say, our two away wins and against Liverpool, we were much dependant on David de Gea, our goalkeeper. Without his saves, especially against Arsenal, it would have been any score. Could have been 5-2.
But, we won those games. I think that is important. But after 2-1, 2-1 again and even 3-0, we went down to 1-1 against Aston Villa. I specially remember that fixture as I watch Chelsea vs. Southampton, the score right now 60′ minute is 1-1, and Southampton scored first, much like against Aston Villa when Christian Benteke’s strike came out of the blue. Then Falcao equalised for us, just as Eden Hazard did for Chelsea. But Chelsea have been the favoured side for the whole match, and I think they might win this fixture, I do not know. They are dominating chances, just as United did. But I think Chelsea will win this one.
As I sit here, passive smoking due to the smokers next to me (I hate it), I remember the fixture that took place two and a half hours ago, Tottenham HotSpurs vs. Manchester United.

Ah, they stopped smoking. Good.

0-0. It was, well, disappointing for us seeing how we dominated first half chances, and Hugo Lloris saving Tottenham, keeping us at bay. It also reminds me of us against Arsenal. De Gea and Lloris share a skill, I think.
The Spurs match, well, we became less competent in the second half and we can only look forward, can’t we?

We play Stoke on New Year.
I hope for results.
Belated Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
____________________________

Some of you may wonder, “Where did that come from?!” or “Too much out of the blue. I don’t like it.” or just “Crazy“. Well, I will tell you why it is important. See, one way or the other, you are going to be insulted. You will be called names. You will have these rude people around you. Deal with it. Think of it differently. Your caste, race, gender and nationality does not appeal to anyone. You will be criticized. Get over it. People are insecure. Jealous. Scared. They think you are the better person, they are scared that you’ll be more successful. They think too highly of themselves also sometimes. Take little Jeet for example. Of course, he is still Little Jeet. But he was powerful in the wrong way. While playing football, he felt small. He couldn’t pass the ball. But when he was angry, he was powerful. Maybe he wanted to make the player feel weak by showing his strength, or he wanted to hurt him in a way he didn’t know was right or wrong. There are things to consider here. From a humble and kind kid, he became something of a sinner or a violent freak. How?

Now that I got you thinking, you are well prepared for the next few chapters. Farewell. :)

“That is great, son. You know, you can be anything you want when you grow up.” Mother had a great smile on her face.
“Anything, mum?” Jeet smiled
“Anything”

Jeet was very excited.

Jeet knew he couldn’t apply for classes yet, but he watched the players play, and he discussed rules of the game with his father. He loved talking to his father whom he loved thoroughly.

6:00 a.m. Monday.
“Jeet, son, get ready for school. Jeet! You have not woken up yet! You’ll miss your bus!”
Jeet groggily waddled out of bed and brushed his teeth. He almost dropped his tooth brush in his sink. But even though his grogginess, little Jeet was born with great reflexes. He thought that he might become a goalkeeper when he becomes a footballer! He hastily shunned away the horror of staying at one place during the whole match and just catching the football whenever it comes to him.
Jeet didn’t eat his usual cereal, instead, he ate bread and butter.
“The cereal has too much sugar, mum. I will not grow up to be a healthy footballer if I grow fatter!” Jeet took a small bite of his toast .
“Don’t talk nonsense, Jeet. You are still in a growth phase. You need to eat more to grow. Now, eat your cereal or mother will be very angry.” Mother retorted. She just wanted Jeet to have a full stomach so that he may be able to focus better on his academics at school. She loved Jeet.
“Sorry, mummy! I did not wish to make you angry, I just thought that if I eat lesser, I will be healthier. I did not know that I would be unhealthy!” Jeet said. Mother kissed Jeet and gave him a tight hug.
Jeet left for school in the school bus. He sat with Mahan, his elder brother, who was reading the news.
“What are you reading, dear brother?” Jeet inquired.
“Nothing, Jeet, football tactics. I have a match today. I need to understand and discuss tactics with my friends.” Brother Mahan mumbled.
“Oh! Football! Let me see! Let me see!” Jeet chirped.
“No, Jeet, you won’t understand.” Brother Mahan said. Jeet wondered if his elder brother was mad at him. He tried one last time.
“NO, Jeet! NO.” Brother Mahan thundered at Jeet.
“Sorry” Jeet squeaked.
Brother Mahan sighed. He hugged Jeet and helped him read the newspaper. Jeet knew his elder brother would never be mad at him, even when he shouts. The paper was very interesting, but Jeet half understood, half didn’t. Alas, the time came when the bus ride would end. Jeet hopped off the bus, thanked the workers and started off to class.
Jeet was very focused normally during classes, but something was unusual about today. Jeet was focusing on the time. He, and you might think of him as a crazy child, but he wanted to play the football game with Mahan’s batch! He just couldn’t wait to play his first game. He might have to persuade Mahan’s friends a little, but that would be it.
“Jeet!” The literature teacher noticed his focus was elsewhere.
“Yes, ma’am?” Jeet stuttered. Oh no! Jeet thought. What have I gotten myself into?
“Okay, Jeet. If you have been paying attention, what did the elves do for the shoemaker?” The teacher interrogated.
Jeet knew this one. He read the story.
“Clothes?” Jeet mumbled
“Jeet, pay attention! The elves make shoes for the shoemaker and the shoemaker gives the elves clothes! Focus!”
Jeet looked down. He felt terrible.
Jeet waited till the last period. Physical Education. He over heard some ten year olds talking about the match being in the last period. All Jeet had to do was give his attendance to the P.E. teacher, and then he sneaked off. The P.E. Teacher took two classes of sixty students each. She wouldn’t know if one was missing. Jeet walked off to the main football field. The area was big. Very big. He’d never been there. He rushed to a party of kids who were standing in a circle and talking. He jumped in.
“Me! Me! I am playing too!” Jeet shouted. All the kids stopped talking. Finally, one spoke.
“Jeet? What are you doing here. Go to class!”
“Who is this kid?”
“Why does he want to play with us?”
“Jeet, please go back to class.”

All this talk came to a halt when a tall, thin boy spoke.

“Let the fatso play.” He said.
Everyone started loudly talking amongst themselves.
Mahan went and tackled the skinny person to the ground.
“If you say a thing about my little brother, I. Will. Break. You.”
Everyone started hissing. The skinny boy started laughing.
“Let us play.” He said.

***

Mahan went up to Jeet.
“Jeet, let us play. You go to your class. Please.”
But Jeet wouldn’t agree. He believed in determination.
Jeet played alongside Mahan, in a CDM (Defensive Midfielder) position.

The match began.

Jeet closely watched every move of the players, and looked at it with a view that few would see through. Everything stopped in front of him, and he saw these lines drawn from one player to the other, and he saw things that, well, weren’t really happening. He had a distinct memory. He was gifted, oblivious to him at his youth age. The ball rolled to little Jeet, but his weakness and frailty got the better of him, as the balled rolled into the possession of the opposition. He heard a player behind him saying something he would never forgive. Never. He wouldn’t have disclosed it to anyone. He would never speak of it. Moreover, he would never have forgiven himself for it.

Jeet hadn’t discovered his hidden rage. Not until that day. He heard his elder brother fighting with a foreign person. The foreigner told Mahan to get lost, to the gutter where his family belongs. He added another round of racism, at the point where Jeet started screaming. He took off his shoes which were worn but spiky, and threw it in the face of the disgusting player. The players face was dribbling with blood. But Jeet wasn’t done. He jumped on the foreigner and repeatedly slapped the guy who was lying on the floor. Jeet used his other shoe to whack the player that looked half dead. Jeet was terribly traumatized to speak. He was crying badly. He got red carded and the game was called to a halt. Jeet was given a red card, and he ran out of the pitch, Mahan running behind him.

“Jeet, stop!” Mahan caught Jeet and gave him a tight hug.

“Don’t cry, Jeet. I told you to stay in class. Jeet, listen. In football there are going to be these types of people. Racism is just the beginning. You are young, so it is better to get used to it.”

Jeet was still crying, but he acknowledged what Mahan had said.

At the end of the day, Jeet went up to Mahan and asked him, “Why does football have to get so physical?”

So, I wrote my second chapter and published it, and when i published it, it comprised of 1299 words. But only 901 of the 1299 words got published. So now I am cursing word press, and dealing with this STUPID problem at the moment. So while I get it sorted out, I will post a few random posts to keep you guys busy. See you!

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Hi There! My name is Anshul. Don't ask me why I named this site wizardgk. GK is a mis-acronym, and wizards are really cool people. Enjoy my blog! Here you shall find nothing in particular... There are a plethora of choices of posts here, so help yourself and find a post that you like to read!